Railroad-rail coupling



UNITED STAT S PATENT OFFICE,

HIRAM PARKER, or Mounr PLEASANT, IOWA.

RAILROAD-RAIL COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 280,760, dated July 3, 1883.

Application filed March 14. 1853. (No motlelJ To, aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HIRAM PARKER, a citien of the United States, residing at Mount Pleasant, in the county of Henry and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railroad Rail Couplings, of which the following is a specification;

My invention relates to a new and novel manner of coupling railroad-rails together so' as to form a continuous smooth track that will yield to the contraction and expansion of the rails without any chance of them becoming loose or deranged in any way at their couplings, and has for its object the accomplishment of said ends by providing mechanism better adapted for the purpose than has hitherto been known.

I am aware that railroad-rails have been coupled together by means of fish-plates ar ranged on each side of the web, lapping past the contiguous ends of said rails, and which are fastened to the same by means of bolts or pins passing through both of said fish-plates and holes made through said webs of the rails, said bolts or pins having screws and taps on their ends, or otherwise provided with transverse slots, and keys or wedges in their ends for tightening and holding them in position. Others having fish-plates similarly arranged, and having rectangular oblong holes made transversely through them, and through the webs of the rails, are fastened by means of quadrangular pins fitting said holes, and passing through all of said parts, which are tightened and secured in place by means of wedges or keys driven through apertures made transversely through said pins, all of which are objectionable in having too many separate parts to handle, and which become loosened by the jar caused by trains running over them, so as to stretch said bolts or pins, or otherwise wear them until they become loose. Other couplings still are made by having the two fishplates arranged as above, fitting the rails on each side, but rigidly connected by a longitudinal rib made transversely between them, at'or near their center, and just wide enough apart to allow the ends of two adjacent rails to be driven between them, by cutting longitudinal slots transversely in the webs of said ends of rails for the reception of said connecting-ribs, which coupling device is also objectionable, as interl mediate rails so coupled cannot be removed for repairs or replaced without beginning and working from one end of the track.

My invention consists of a pairof fish-plates made sorthat they will interlock the one with other by means of a longitudinal tongue projecting laterally from the center of the inner side of one of said plates, which tongue projects farther at one end than the other, and is provided with grooves in both its upper and lower sides, said grooves being made parallel with its outer edge, and also with the sides of the fish-plate, constituting a wedge shape, and at a distance from the plate slightly less than the thickness of the web of the rails, and the corresponding plate being made with a T- Y shaped groove longitudinally in the middle of its inner side, said groove being made with the standing tongues or flanges inside of its expanded or widened inner part, forming wedges corresponding with and fitting, when driven together, the wedge shape of the grooves in the tongue of the other fish-plate, so that by inserting the points of the wedges formed by the groove in the lastdescribed plate into the larger ends of the grooves formed in the tongue of the other plate, and with the standing tongues formed, as described, on the outer edge of the main connecting-tongue in the expanded or widened inner part of the groove formed in the other plate, and by driving said plates endwise in opposite directions, they will, by means of their interlocking wedges, tighten on to the contiguous ends of two rails. Said rails, however, will be provided with slots or apertures cut transversely through their webs suitably for the purpose. also slightly curved endwise, and made of metal having some spring, so that by driving them together, as above described, by the sides of the rails, they will yield or conform to the produced will counteract the effects of any loosening of said parts by the jar usually caused by moving trains, as is common with couplings otherwise constructed.

will refer to the accompanying illustrative drawings, which constitute part of this specication, of which- Figure 1 is a perspective of the contiguous ends of two rails having one fish-plate in po- Said fish-plates are same by straightening; but the spring thereby As a further description of my invention, I

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sition, with its coupling-tongue inserted in the slots made in the ends of the rails, and with said ends of rails resting on a cross-tie. Fig. 2 is a perspective of one of the fish-plateshaving the coupling-tongue attached thereto. Fig. 3 is a perspective of the corresponding fishplate for the opposite side of the rails, having a T-shaped groove made wedgeshaped longitudinally in the center of its inner side. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of Fig. 3, taken at the dotted lines .r w a- 00 of said figure. Fig. 5 is a perspective of an end of a rail provided with a slot in its web, having a recess also formed for the reception of a retaining-flange on the connecting-tongue ot' the fish-plate, which flange fits in. said recess, thereby preventing rails at or near the end of the tracks or switches from separating endwise by having both of the continuous ends of adjacent rails thus coupled. Fig. 6 shows a fish-plate having said retaining-flanges on it. Fig. Tis a perspective of the end of one rail provided with a long mortise through its web, which may be used in place of and for the purpose of the recessed slots shown in Fig. 5, by using a fish-plate having its coupling-tongue made in two sections fitting said mortises, (one being made in the contiguous ends of adjacent rails,) as shown at Fig. 8. Two or more apertures may be made in like manner through the web at each end of the rails, and in lieu of the continuous tongue V of the fish-plate, Fig. .3, and the elongated sections, Fig. 8, make more and shorter sect-ions of said tongue, so as to fit said apertures in the rails, but other wise provided with the interlocking flange I, on their ends, as per above.

In the drawings similar letters indicate like parts throughout the different figures, of which A represents the crown of the rails; B, the base, and (J the web of the same; I), the slot in the end of the web for the reception of the coupling or connecting tongue.

I), Fig. 5, is a slot having a recess, 0, in which the flanges v of the connecting-tongue V of Fig. (i fit, as ameans of holding two contiguous rails from separatin endwise, by each of said rails being thus provided with said recess and flange-coupling.

Dis a long mortise made through the webs of rails near their ends, which may be used instead 01' and for the same purpose as the re eessed slots and projecting flanges just de scribed, by using a fislrplate with its eoupling'tongue made in two sections, as shown at V, lig. S.

E is a cross-tic, upon which the meeting ends 01' two adjacent rails rest.

F is the inner surface or bearing of the fishplate, having the coupling-tongue V attached to it. H is the outer side of the other or opposite fish-plate.

1 is the interlocking tongues or flange, at-

tached to the coupling-tongue V, which, in coupling, slides in the groove I, Fig. 3.

r is a pair of wedge-shaped grooves made in the coupling-tongue V, one on either side, as shown, into whiehthe wedge-shaped flanges r, Fig. 3, slide in keying up, by driving said plates together, either Figs. 2, 6, or 8 with Fig. It will be observed that said. fishplates, Figs. 2, 3, 6 and 8, are slightly curved, as before stated, for the purpose specified.

71 is a retaining-lug, rigidly attached to the plate, Fig. 3, and is used as an absolute stay or security against said plate working out of its locked condition with its opposite plate, by driving a spike cit-her through a hole in it or behind and against it into a cross-tie.

Having thus fully described my invention, so as to enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to understand the same, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In combination with railroad-rails having longitudinal slotsinade transversely in the ends of their webs, interlocking fish-plates for coupling contiguous ends of adjacent rails, one of said plates being provided with a couplingtongue, V, it having wedgeshaped grooves r and flange or tongues I, and the other provided with a groove, .1, and tapering jaws or flanges r, so to [it and interlock with said other plate, substantially as shown and described, lor the purpose specified.

2. In combination with railroad-rails having longitudinal slots made transversely in the ends of their webs, the recesses (2, in connection with said slots, and projections or flanges e on the side of the coupling-tongue V of an interlocking fishplate, F, substantially as shown, for the purpose specified.

In combination with the contiguous ends of adjacent railroad-rails, having one or more slots or holes through the webs of each of said ends, a pair of laterally-eurved fish-plates made of metal having spring or elasticity, one of said plates being provided with short sections in lieu of the continuous eoupling-tongne V, as shown in Fig. 2, said sections constituting coupling pins or sectional tongues corresponding with and fitting the slots or holes in said rails, said couplingpins or tongue-sections being provided with interlocking flanges I formed on their ends, as shown in Fig. 8, substantially for the purpose above specified, and for adapting them to rails now in use.

4:. The fish-plate II, having a lug, h, attached to it, and being provided with a groove, I, and wedge-shaped jaws orflanges r, in combination with the fish-plate F, substantially as shown, for the purpose specified.

HIRAM PARKER.

\Vitnesses IV. \V. CONKLIN, 'W. F. MARTIN.

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